Serach's Secret

It’s interesting what cycles do for us.

We can arrive to the same exact place we’ve been to before – in a previous cycle – but really be in a whole new place. Cycles reflect a mirror into who we’ve become. 

Last year’s Parsha Point for Vayigash is still one of the most intriguing ones I’ve written. It’s about Serach bas Asher. Her name is mentioned in passing among the list of Yaakov’s offspring – though she is the only granddaughter mentioned by name.

I want to share with you what I wrote about this last year, how I approached this, and what changed a year later.

When Yaakov’s sons wanted to share the news that his beloved Yosef still lived, they sought to do so with sensitivity and care. To that end, they turned to Asher's daughter, Serach, who used music and rhyme to gently break the news to her grandfather. 

While Yaakov was in prayer, in a trance-like state, she softly spoke the words he yearned to hear for 22 years. 

"עוד יוסף חי - Yosef still lives."

But here's where it gets interesting. 

"And Yaakov blessed Serach for singing these words before him, and he said: My daughter, may death never prevail against you forever, for you have revived my spirit." (Sefer Hayashar)

That's what got me down the rabbit hole.

What does it mean to live forever?

What exactly happened to Serach - and - oh! - is she alive today???

There are sources connecting her to the times of R' Yochanan ben Zakai - which would make her over 1700 years old! 

Then there's a fascinating tale told of a wise woman in Isfahan, Iran, believed to be the OG Serach bas Asher herself. There was a fire, no survivors, and basically all the bodies were recovered - except Serach. The Jews of Isfahan believed this was where she passed on - alive - to the heavenly realms of Gan Eden. (She would have been almost 2800 years old.)

(And here's how I included this last year.)

Serach was a legend. But there are still so many secrets winking just beneath the surface that I'm itching to understand more. I want to deeply feel the essence of who Serach really was.

I was even compelled to skip this week's segment, because what's even the parsha point? It still feels inconclusive. But I decided to share because this is literally the process of learning.

Asking questions.

Opening conversations.

Knowing there's something there that will be revealed in the right time. 

And as we reach this point again in the next cycle of Torah reading, a year wiser, perhaps a new parsha point will come through.

Because that's the nature of cycles. We get to come back - with new understanding and new perspective.

How cool that this is where I left off last year – and started this post today the way I did? I guess some things didn't change after all! 

I still don't know Serach's secret.

To be honest, I barely had time to look at the parsha this week, so I pulled up this piece from last year – and surprisingly I don’t feel particularly curious to get to the bottom of her story.

She lived – or lives – and made her mark: one woman mentioned among all the male progeny.

We see her.

We remember.

And so she lives on. 

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